1. Technical Field
This invention relates to dental floss and, more particularly, to multi-colored dental floss for notifying a user of an end portion of the dental floss.
2. Prior Art
Brushing one's teeth is one of the most important parts of healthy hygiene. In addition to freshening the breath and strengthening the teeth, proper brushing also kills the germs and bacteria that can grow inside the mouth. Recently, the Office of the Surgeon General released its first ever report on the oral health of America and the results were surprising. According to the report, the most common chronic childhood disease by far in this country is tooth decay. In fact, American children lose a staggering 512 million school hours a year due to dental related illness.
Adults also suffer from various forms of dental disease and these complications can lead to painful oral surgeries and costly trips to the dentist. A booming industry, the national health expenditures for dental services exceeded sixty billion dollars in the year 2003. While the Office of the Surgeon General reports that there have been vast improvements in the past fifty years regarding oral health issues, much can still be done in this area. Health professionals maintain that through education and a concerted effort, the number of adults and children suffering from dental disease can be significantly reduced.
To have a healthy smile, the American Dental Association recommends that teeth should be brushed at least twice daily. In addition to brushing, daily flossing has been the prescription for healthy teeth and gums offered by dental hygienists for over 80 years. While flossing is not as widespread as it should be due to what some perceive as challenges, from bleeding gums to dexterity difficulties to the time-consuming nature of the practice, most consumers endeavor to complete this necessary regimen and try to keep floss at the ready whenever they brush their teeth. However, even people who floss conscientiously encounter a frustrating challenge.
Particularly, since the typical packaging of dental floss involves a ball or collection of the string ensconced within a closed container, it can be almost impossible to tell when one is about to reach the string's end. As many consumers would readily attest, there is little more annoying than beginning to floss, only to discover there is only about two or three inches of string left to do the job. Unfortunately, these individuals have no choice but to go to the store immediately for more floss or put off the regimen until a more practical time. Obviously, is would be advantageous to provide a means for a convenient solution to the aforementioned problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,874 to Dorfman discloses an indicator of the end of a length of a tape of dental floss contained within a dispenser. The indicator is a segment of the length of tape having a different indicia or appearance than a prior segment of the length of tape. The indicator is located at a predetermined distance from an end of the tape to indicate that the length of the tape remaining within the dispenser is being depleted. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide several indicators to a user for establishing exactly how much dental floss remains.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,816 to Ariagno discloses a process for making a multi-colored dental floss formed of a plurality of bundles of fibers comprising. The process includes: knitting the floss into a tube shape, flattening the tube, printing both surfaces of the flattened tube with a sequence of colored stripes, and unknitting the floss. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide several indicators to a user for establishing exactly how much dental floss remains.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,516 to Guay discloses a dental hygiene article, including a dental floss, and a microcapsule associated with a portion of the floss. The microcapsule includes a pigment encapsulated within the microcapsule for changing the color of a portion of the floss associated with the microcapsule upon rupture of the microcapsule as an indication of use or release of an active agent. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not provide several indicators to a user for establishing exactly how much dental floss remains.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an apparatus that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for notifying a user of an end portion of the dental floss. Multi-colored dental floss uses simple color codes to indicate that the end of a string is approaching, and thereby eliminates the frustration that occurs when a user discovers that there is not enough floss remaining to sufficiently complete a regimen. The present invention offers an easy reminder that facilitates keeping plenty of fresh dental floss on hand at all times. The present invention is simple to use and inexpensive.